UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS  B U L L E T I N 

Issued  Weekly 

Vol.  XVIII  November  8,  1920  N0>  jq 

(Entered  as  second-class  matter  December  11,  1912.  at  the  post  office  atUrbana,  Illinois,  under  the  Act  of  August  24,  1912.  Acceptance  for  mailing  at  the 
special  rate  of  postage  provided  for  in  section  1103,  Act  of  October  3,  1917,  authorized  July  31,  1918.) 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS,  URBANA 


THE  CONDITIONS  TODAY 

A year  ago  I called  public  attention  to  the  difficulties  of  the  University.  It  is  necessary  to 
do  so  again.  As  was  pointed  out  last  winter,  unless  considerable  relief  is  granted  by  the  legislature 
which  meets  next  January,  the  opening  of  the  next  biennium  will  see  a decided  reduction  of  the  work 
of  the  University  and  a permanent  lowering  of  its  standards. 

The  income  of  the  mill  tax  for  the  present  University  year  is  $2,500,000.  In  1911-12  it  was 
$2,292,000.  This  is  an  increase  of  less  than  11  per  cent  since  1911-12. 

Meantime,  the  purchasing  power  of  the  dollar  has  fallen  50  per  cent. 

Meantime,  the  student  enrollment  has  increased  100  per  cent.  The  total  registration  last  year 
was  9,208.  It  will  be  near  or  beyond  10,000  this  year.  The  number  registered  November  6 was 

8,250. 

Meantime,  it  has  been  impracticable  to  equip  or  man  the  building  for  the  College  of  Education. 

Meantime,  the  teaching  staff  has  been  inadequately  paid  for  at  least  two  years,  and  it  has  been 
difficult,  and  in  some  lines  impossible,  to  get  teachers. 

Meantime,  the  research  work  of  the  Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  the  Engineering  Experi- 
ment Station,  and  the  Graduate  School  is  insufficiently  provided  for,  and  many  lines  of  research 

are  suspended. 


AN  ADDITION  TO  WEALTH 

The  University  has  proved  its  direct  economic  advantage  to  the  people.  Many  thoughtful  citi- 
zens now  realize  that  some  of  the  discoveries  which  the  University  has  made  are  individually  worth 
much  more  to  the  State  and  nation  than  all  the  appropriations  which  the  institution  will  get  in  a 

hundred  years. 

Only  a week  or  so  ago  the  University  announced  that  it  had  developed  a new  variety  of  wheat 
which  has , on  a five  year  average , outyielded  its  predecessor  six  bushels  to  the  acre.  Last  year  there 
were  2,400 ,000  acres  planted  to  wheat  in  Illinois. 

The  yield  of  corn,  our  greatest  crop,  has  been  turned  from  a gradual  decline  to  a decided  up- 
ward trend,  and  land  is  now  bought  and  sold  upon  the  basis  of  the  soil  survey  conducted  by  the 

University. 


Meantime,  the  extension  work  of  the  University,  carrying  information  direct  to  the  people, 
has  been  diminished. 

Meantime  and  now  we  have  classes  too  large  to  teach  properly,  an  insufficient  staff,  inadequate 
equipment,  and  an  insufficient  number  of  classrooms  and  laboratories,  so  that  some  of  the  work 
has  to  be  carried  on  under  unhealthful  conditions. 


SOME  ILLUSTRATIONS 


1.  Size  of  Classes 

The  standard  si^e  of  class  for  good  work  is  25.  On  November  6 we  were  teaching  at  Urbana 
838  classes  larger  than  25,  357  classes  larger  than  35,  and  135  classes  larger  than  50. 

2.  Inadequate  Space 

The  present  quarters  for  Physical  Training  for  Women  were  erected  when  there  were  fewer 
than  600  women  students.  Today  there  are  nearly  1900.  The  swimming  tank  they  use  is  13x36 
ft.,  and  325  girls  are  registered  to  take  swimming.  The  classes  closed  at  that  number.  The  gym- 
nasium has  28  shower  baths  and  4 tub  baths  to  accommodate  classes  ranging  from  84  to  110  an  hour. 
There  are  720  sq.  ft.  of  dressing  room  space  to  accommodate  from  174  to  212  people  at  one  time. 
There  are  758  lockers,  378  of  which  are  in  the  basement  with  no  dressing  rooms. 

The  Dean  of  the  College  of  Liberal  Arts  and  Sciences  reports  that  the  laboratories  in  Botany 
and  Chemistry  are  all  overcrowded  and  in  most  cases  inadequately  equipped  for  the  number  of 
students  daily  using  them.  Piles  of  boxes,  substitutes  for  lockers  for  apparatus,  are  stacked  in  the 
laboratories  and  halls  of  the  Chemistry  Building. 

The  College  of  Agriculture  reports  that  the  Soil  Physics  laboratories  are  in  such  condition  that 
certain  types  of  advanced  work  cannot  be  given  at  all.  Similar  conditions  prevail  in  Animal 
Husbandry,  Horticulture,  Crop  Production,  and  Farm  Mechanics. 

In  the^  College  of  Commerce  the  reading  and  study  room  was  provided  for  about  250  students 
several  years  ago.  There  are  now  1700. 

‘In  the  Library,  reading  room  space  was  provided  for  the  2500  students  at  that  time  expected 
to  be  in  attendance  in  a year  or  two  after  the  building  was  erected.  Three  times  that  number  now 
need  its  facilities.”  It  has  265  chairs.  It  should  have  1000. 

i 

In  the  Colleges  of  Medicine  and  Dentistry  in  Chicago  equally  bad  conditions  prevail.  There 
have  been  numerous  changes  of  staff  due  to  inadequate  salaries.  The  laboratories  are  over-crowded, 
equipment  is  inadequate,  and  conditions  of  study  unsanitary.  Many  students  had  to  be  turned 
away  because  there  was  no  room  and  no  sufficient  teaching  staff. 


Owing  to  increase  in  number  of  students,  loss  of  men  and  changes  from  full-time  to  half-time 
positions  in  the  College  of  Medicine,  the  efficiency  of  the  teaching  staff  is  from  one-third  to  one-half 
less  than  at  the  beginning  of  the  war. 


The  Dean  of  the  College  of  Dentistry  reports: 

“We  have  suffered  very  severely  this  year  in  faculty  changes,  mostly  through  the  decisions  of 
some  of  our  best  men  to  leave  the  teaching  field  entirely  for  active  practise.  This  is  entirely  because 
we  are  unable  to  pay  a decent  living  wage.  We  are  badly  in  need  of  two  or  three  full-time  men,  but 
they  are  not  to  be  had  for  the  salary  we  have  to  offer.” 


t Pages  of  illustrations  like  these  could  be  given  in  detail. 


3.  Teaching  Work  Curtailed 

More  than  60  classes  provided  for  in  the  catalog  are  not  being  given. 


INADEQUATE  STAFF 

The  number  of  teachers  needed  today  at  Urbana-Champaign  to  reduce  large  classes  to  a reason- 
able number  like  30,  is  56,  according  to  our  best  estimate.  In  the  Medical,  Dental,  and  Pharmacy 
departments  in  Chicago  probably  10  more  are  needed.  To  put  these  departments  on  a proper 
basis  next  year  will  require  an  addition  of  probably  15  new  men.  At  Urbana-Champaign  there 
are  approximately  100  positions  unfilled.  It  should  be  noted  that  only  one  new  class  subject  has 
been  offered  thus  far  in  two  years,  and  that  was  put  in  as  an  alternative  for  an  existing  class  so  as  to 
reduce  the  excessive  number  in  the  latter. 


REDUCTION  OF  RESEARCH 

The  first  and  most  important  work  of  the  University  is  to  train  young  men  and  women,  to 
develop  character,  to  make  them  future  servants  of  the  people  in  leading  the  way  in  cultural  ideals 
and  the  economic  and  social  practises  that  go  to  make  up  progress. 

But  leaders  must  give  out  truth.  The  second  great  work  of  the  University,  therefore,  is  to 
discover  new  truth.  It  is  the  people’s  agency  of  research.  As  has  been  remarked  before,  if  the 
University  did  no  teaching  work,  it  would  justify  the  appropriations  made  to  it  by  the  results  of 
its  research.  All  our  departments  are  conducting  research.  The  cultural  inspiration  given  to  the 
life  of  a great  people  by  the  work  of  a Lorado  Taft,  an  Emerson,  or  a Longfellow,  is  as  important 
in  the  long  run  as  the  addition  to  its  material  wealth  from  a new  chemical  discovery.  But  the  former 
cannot  be  measured  in  dollars.  The  latter  often  can.  Even  if  we  omit  the  incalculable  but  in- 
tangible additions  to  the  people’s  welfare  made  by  discoveries  of  the  first  kind,  it  is  yet  easy  to  prove 
that  those  of  the  second  kind,  by  their  additions  to  economic  welfare,  contribute  far  more  than  the 


University  costs.  Illustrations  are  familiar,  among  them  the  oft  cited  coal  coking  process  of  Pro- 
fessor Parr  and  the  agricultural  work  of  Professor  Hopkins,  and  now  the  discovery  of  “Turkey  Red 
10-110”  wheat;  the  connection  between  proper  soil  inoculation  and  the  growth  of  alfalfa;  a scien- 
tific classification  and  gradation  of  cattle,  horses,  and  swine,  adopted  by  the  Federal  Government; 
the  preparation  of  a serum  for  the  cure  of  corn  stalk  disease  among  animals.  Dean  Davenport 
writes:  “In  miniature,  the  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  represents  the  lines  of  agricultural 
activities  in  the  State  and  [its  research  work  reflects  its  attempt  to  answer]  the  queries  that  are 
just  now  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  its  leading  farmers.” 

In  spite  of  the  importance  of  research  as  just  discussed,  we  have  been  obliged  to  discontinue 
practically  one  whole  line  of  work  in  the  Division  of  Plant  Breeding,  some  in  the  line  of  Soil  Biology, 
practically  all  steer  feeding  and  winter  maintenance  investigations,  as  well  as  a large  number  of 
others  in  agriculture. 

The  Dairy  Department  is  large  and  yet  it  is  woefully  inadequate  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
Dairy  Industry.  Our  department  has  not  been  able  to  keep  abreast  with  the  development  of  the 
dairy  business.  It  lags  behind.  Especially  is  this  true  in  the  matter  of  up-to-date,  exact  infor- 
mation, which  can  be  secured  only  through  research. 

The  staff  of  the  Engineering  Experiment  Station  during  the  past  year  has  been  reduced  below 
that  of  the  years  prior  to  the  war,  and  as  a consequence  our  research  activities  have  been  seriously 
impaired.  The  work  has  been  conducted  with  satisfactory  efficiency  only  in  the  Departments  of 
Ceramic  Engineering  and  Theoretical  and  Applied  Mechanics,  and  in  connection  with  certain  co- 
operative investigations  where  special  funds  have  been  provided.  Research  work  has  almost  been 
suspended  in  some  of  the  departments  because  of  the  lack  of  assistance  and  of  the  heavy  teaching 
schedules  imposed  upon  members  of  the  faculty.  Practically  all  our  locomotive  work  is  dropped 
because  of  lack  of  money.  So  are  researches  in  other  lines. 

The  State  needs  new  knowledge  for  its  agricultural  and  industrial  progress.  In  every  depart- 
ment of  agricultural  work  men  are  calling  on  the  University  for  help  that  it  cannot  give  because  it 
does  not  have  the  knowledge  and  has  not  the  means  to  carry  on  experiments  to  discover  it.  The 
same  is  true  in  industrial  research  and  human  research. 

GROWTH  OF  STUDENT  BODY 

Why  has  the  enrollment  of  the  University  of  Illinois  grown  so  rapidly?  Why  do  indications 
point  to  a continued  growth? 

The  outstanding  fact  is  that  the  public  schools  of  the  State  have  grown  so  tremendously  that 
each  year  an  increased  number  of  high  school  graduates  are  sent  to  the  State  University.  By 
January  1,  1921,  it  is  estimated  that,  in  addition  to  the  many  town  and  city  high  schools,  approxi- 
mately 275  community  high  schools  will  be  in  operation  in  Illinois.  In  the  ten  year  period,  1908- 


1918,  the  number  of  state  high  schools  has  increased  75  per  cent,  while  the  number  of  pupils  has 
increased  from  54,000  to  111,571,  or  105  per  cent.  A rough  authoritative  estimate  indicates  a 50 
per  cent  increase  in  high  school  enrollment  the  past  year  as  over  the  preceding  year. 

In  1918  the  graduates  from  high  schools  in  Illinois  numbered  16,071.  Last  spring  the  number 
was  considerably  larger,  and  in  five  years  more  seems  certain  to  double.  Yet  the  public  higtfschool 
system  of  the  State  has  just  started  on  its  program  of  compulsory  education. 

If  the  University  cannot,  even  with  its  present  overload,  properly  care  for  all  the  students 
who  want  to  enter  now,  what  will  the  situation  be  in  five,  ten,  or  twenty  years? 


HOUSING  PROBLEM 


The  University  is  further  confronted  with  the  necessity  of  housing  its  students.  Many  uni- 
versities provide  housing  facilities.  The  University  of  Illinois  does  not,  except  for  one  residence 
hall  for  women.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building  has  been  leased  by  the  University  as  a residence  hall 
for  boys  and  ninety-five  are  being  taken  care  of  there.  The  students  live  mainly  in  fraternity  and 
sorority  houses  and  in  private  rooming  houses. 


SHALL  WE  RETROGRADE? 


The  University  of  Illinois  is  at  the  turn  of  the  road.  It  must  retrace  the  steps  it  has  so 
rapidly  taken  in  the  past  several  years  and  become  a third  or  fourth  rate  University,  or  else 

1.  Sufficient  equipment  must  be  provided  to  make  the  University’s  work  at  least  as  efficient 
as  it  was  three  or  four  years  ago. 

2.  The  staff  must  be  increased  in  order  to  care  efficiently  for  the  work  formerly  done  and  for 
the  additional  work  that  has  come  in  the  past  three  or  four  years. 

3.  A margin  of  income  must  be  provided  to  care  for  the  increase  in  teaching,  research,  and 
administration  due  to  larger  enrollment. 

4.  The  working  equipment  of  the  University  must  be  brought  up  to  date.  New  laboratory 
equipment  must  be  installed;  depleted  herds  must  be  replenished;  antiquated  and  worn-out 
machinery  must  be  replaced. 

5.  Necessary  buildings  must  be  added.  The  need  of  a new  library  building,  additional  bio- 
logical laboratory  space,  a new  agricultural  group,  and  new  engineering  laboratories  has  been  felt 
for  years.  They  should  be  erected  immediately. 


WHAT  WE  NEED 


It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the  University  needs  more  teachers,  more  investigators,  more 
equipment,  and  more  room.  If  its  needs  were  to  be  provided  for  by  the  next  legislature  in  proportion 
to  the  increase  in  the  number  of  students  and  the  rise  of  prices,  it  should  have  an  annual  appropria- 
tion from  the  State,  for  operation  and  maintenance,  of  two  and  one-half  times  its  former  total  and, 
in  addition,  a suitable  sum  for  additional  buildings.  This  would  mean  a total  of  between  seven 
and  eight  million  dollars  a year.  Other  state  institutions  are  asking  for  as  much  as  this  or  more. 
But  we  believe  that  with  new  economies,  careful  management,  and  more  favorable  economic  con- 
ditions, we  can  get  on  with  much  less.  Therefore  it  is  proposed  that  the  University  shall  ask  from 
the  next  legislature  only  a sixty  per  cent  increase  for  operation  and  maintenance,  and  $1,250,000 
a year  for  permanent  improvement,  lands,  and  buildings,  or  $5,250,000  a year. 


THE  PROPOSED  LEGISLATIVE  PROGRAM 


It  is  intended,  therefore,  to  ask  the  people  of  the  State,  through  their  legislature: 

1.  To  appropriate  for  the  first  year  of  the  biennium  for  operation,  maintenance,  equipment, 
and  certain  extensions  the  sum  of  $4,000,000  per  year,  $2,500,000  of  it  from  the  University  mill  tax 
and  the  balance  from  the  general  revenue; 

2.  To  appropriate  $1,000,000  a year  for  the  next  two  years  for  buildings  that  must  be  completed 
within  that  period  to  meet  the  University’s  pressing  needs; 

3.  To  appropriate  $250,000  a year  for  two  years  to  begin  a new  group  of  agricultural  buildings; 

4.  To  amend  the  mill  tax  law  by  changing  the  rate  from  two-thirds  of  a mill  to  one  full  mill, 
which  was  the  original  rate; 

5.  To  make  it  possible  for  the  University  to  have  a continuous  policy  with  reference  to  its 
building  by  passing  an  additional  mill  tax  law  of  one-fourth  of  a mill,  so  as  to  provide  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  $1,000,000  a year,  to  meet  the  building  needs  of  the  University  for  a period  of  ten 
years,  or  until  repealed. 

This  is  a large  request,  although  much  smaller,  as  said  above,  than  that  of  some  of  our  sister 
state  institutions  whose  enrollment  of  students  is  less  than  that  of  the  University  of  Illinois.  It 
is  a reasonable  minimum,  a conservative  estimate.  It  is  for  the  people  of  the  State  themselves  to 
decide  whether  it  shall  be  given  by  the  legislature  and  the  incoming  administration.  If  you 
believe  in  it,  tell  your  representatives  and  your  senator. 


Does  every  citizen  know — do  you  yourself  know 

That  the  present  appropriation  to  the  University  of  Illinois  does  not  even  meet  maintenance 
costs , let  alone  build  classrooms  and  laboratories , or  provide  other  necessary  buildings ? 

That  unless  relief  comes  the  University  may  have  to  close  its  doors  to  many  students  in  the 
early  future , as,  indeed,  it  has  already  done  to  some  medical  students ? 

That  no  man  is  able  to  get  along  on  the  same  money  as  in  1913,  especially  if  his  family  is 
twice  as  large ? 

That  the  University , whose  c family ” is  more  than  twice  as  large,  cannot  get  along  either ? 


What  will  YOU  do  about  it? 

Will  you  make  the  University  problem  your  own  ? 
Will  you  see  your  Representatives  and  Senator  and 
urge  them  to  support  the  above  program  ? 

Will  you  write  the  University  saying  you  have  done 


so? 


